Roll a shopping cart through the produce section of your local grocery store and you’ll see an increasing duplication of foods. These avocadoes are $.99 and those are $1.49. This broccoli is $1.49 a bunch, and that broccoli is $1.99. The only visible difference is a higher price for often smaller produce labelled “Certified Organic.” Why pay extra?

Since the stagflation of the 1970s and the shift to globalization and so-called ‘free’ market policies of the 1980s, there has been a trend to portray labour issues and especially unions as a hindrance to economic growth and prosperity.

Community is … responsibilityCommunity is … rightsCommunity is … imaginaryCommunity is … a false dilemmaCommunity is … communicationCommunity is … happinessCommunity is … powerfulCommunity is … essential

Global Fair Trade’s mandate is to illuminate the connections between humans and the environment on the one hand, and the local and the global on the other. From our perspective, there is nothing finer than an initiative like community gardening for showing how this works and it is so essential for forging a future that is humane and sustainable. Community gardening and local green space initiatives have the potential to undermine the unstable and inhumane global food system while reducing our impact on climate change and forging necessary ties that bind us together in workable societies. That seems like a tall order for a window box of fresh herbs or some backyard tomatoes but here’s how it works.

Trade Not Aid – This has become a rallying cry for a number of causes and businesses. It sounds like a good idea, particularly as it appeals to the Protestant ethic of work over charity as the preferred means of economic advancement. But both terms in the equation are loaded with history and ambiguity. This two-part essay dissects the argument and demonstrates that some aid is detrimental and some trade is beneficial but like with everything else in the world, simple formulations are simplistic and simplistic ideas are dangerous.

Just as not all aid is harmful, not all trade is beneficial. Let’s consider the workings of ‘Free Trade’ as it is advocated by global institutions today. We’ll consider the cases of two corn farmers living on either side of the global railway tracks: